Just a couple of notes/thoughts:

Firstly, 'livers' is a term used exclusively by Nijisanji (or people who came up from that fanbase), with 'talents' or just 'streamers' being more common outside. This is worth knowing as a few times Niji fans have tried to cause trouble to other companies and been outed by using that term.

Second past lives/PLs are, in my general experience, treated very similar to kayfabe in wrestling - where we know its fake, the information is out there, but politely ignored to keep things fun. Generally it only comes up a lot when people are graduating, were fired, or come back from either of the above. Beyond Doki, notable examples include Rica Ch. (when Hololives Yozora Mel was fired due to a contract problem), Mikeneko (who I've seen referred to as 'the Amber Heard of Japan' and former Hololive and VShojo performer) and a string of Nijisanji refugees such as Sayu, Matarakan and Dearsqn.

In essence, I think a large part of why vtubing has blown up is it is rather like the old days of the Internet where anonymity let people say what they really think, and reach a larger audience without having to be the nephew of some media boss. Its also a field littered with wholesome underdog and rags-to-riches stories, which can be compelling in their own right. What other field could elevate a bedridden girl from 'staring at the ceiling, waiting to die' to 'the biggest female streamer in Twitch (by watch time, iirc)?

As for ai vtubers, Neuro-sama does well and is popular, but she's more of a technical curiosity with a very smart turtle man doing the coding. I doubt we live in a world where corporate interests could get half a far as they have.

Also, gmmf, welcome to the rabbit hole.

Just a couple of notes/thoughts:

Firstly, 'livers' is a term used exclusively by Nijisanji (or people who came up from that fanbase), with 'talents' or just'streamers' being more common outside. This is with knowing as a few times Niji fans have tried to cause trouble to other companies and been outed by using that term.

Second past lives/pls are, in my general experience, treated very similar to kayfabe in wrestling, where we know its fake, the information is out there, but politely ignored to keep things fun. Generally it only comes up a lot when people are graduating, were fired, or come back from either of the above.

In essence, I think a large part of why vtubing has blown up is it is rather like the old days of the Internet where anonymity let people say what they really think, and reach a larger audience without having to be the nephew of some media boss. Its also a field littered with wholesome underdog and rags-to-riches stories, which can be compelling in their own right. What other field could elevate a bedridden girl from 'staring at the ceiling, waiting to die' to 'the biggest female streamer in Twitch (by watch time, iirc)?

As for ai vtubers, Neuro-sama does well and is popular, but she's more of a technical curiosity with a very smart turtle man doing the coding. I doubt we live in a world where corporate interests could get half a far as they have.

Also, gmmf, welcome to the rabbit hole.